A broadband electromagnetic energy harvester with a coupled bistable structure

Abstract

This paper investigates a broadband electromagnetic energy harvester with a coupled bistable structure. Both analytical model and experimental results showed that the coupled bistable structure requires lower excitation force to trigger bistable operation than conventional bistable structures. A compact electromagnetic vibration energy harvester with a coupled bistable structure was implemented and tested. It was excited under white noise vibrations. Experimental results showed that the coupled bistable energy harvester can achieve bistable operation with lower excitation amplitude and generate more output power than both conventional bistable and linear energy harvesters under white noise excitation. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.